Today at their gala X02 Event, Microsoft dropped two bombshells: they're going to be releasing Halo 2 and Project Gotham Racing 2, and we can only hope that they'll be worth the wait. (It's probably a safe bet.)
Halo 2 is due out in time for the 2003 Holiday season -- yep, that's right. You'll be playing Halo 2 on your Xbox next Christmas. That's plenty of time to save up for it, at least.

Project Gotham 2 is even further off -- it's expected in early 2004. The sequel to the most popular racing game on the XBox will feature Lamborghini cars this time around, for an added kick.

Both games will take advantage of Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service. Additionally, in-house multiplayer features for both are being beefed up. This is going to be a long wait, folks.

Well.. at least they're coming...

b0b

08-08-2002, 04:34 PM

we'll there's always hope that one of these special gifts there going to give to the beta tester for XBX live could be an online addon for Halo 1 I can hope can't I.

DBJAY

08-08-2002, 04:34 PM

True, they are a long ways off but it is a very important announcement because it will create consumer confidence in the platform.

For example, Nintendo's Zelda game is due in 2003, nearly two years after the Gamecube debut in 2001 when Zelda, Mario, etc were announced.

MGS2 was announced two years prior to it's release.

IMO, console owners need to be assured that the games they bought the system for will have at least one sequel (or similar games of similar quality in the genre) during the console's lifespan.

Looking forward, Xbox now has Halo 2, Doom 3, DOA4, and PGR2 as key titles for 2003 and early 04.

b0b

08-08-2002, 04:57 PM

Not to mention we'll have Unreal Championship, Splinter Cell, Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Counter Strike to keep us company until we can again be Master Chief

aneep

08-08-2002, 05:15 PM

go check Halo 2 screenshots (no joke!) at Bungie.net

my god they look awesome!

-aneep-

DBJAY

08-08-2002, 06:27 PM

The Halo 2 screens are indeed very impressive.

Rubeus

08-08-2002, 08:23 PM

I'm not a fan of these first person shooters, I wonder what makes Halo stand out from the rest of the competitions?

Black Ace

08-08-2002, 11:37 PM

Originally posted by Rebeus
I'm not a fan of these first person shooters, I wonder what makes Halo stand out from the rest of the competitions?

Mind blowing shooting.

Rubeus

08-09-2002, 01:09 AM

If you call that mind blowing, then Dynasty Warriors 3 is mind blowing fighting and slashing.

DBJAY

08-09-2002, 11:00 AM

Halo 1 is a great game because it is the total package. The story is good, voice acting is good, level design is excellent, character designs are great, controls extremely well. It makes both a great single player and multi-player game, which is rare these days. The only flaw in the game in my opinion is the somewhat touchy controls of the Warthog, but that is overcome reasonably well with some practice.

Kid0_oIcarus

08-09-2002, 11:25 AM

I thought the level design was one of the game's weak points?

Obviously many raved and went wild about the game.. but the one thing people always said was that the level design, particularly the later levels, were weak?

mxgame

08-09-2002, 12:09 PM

Don't forget the A.I. of the enemies. That is one of the aspects of the game that keeps bringing me back. Each of the aliens respond in different ways to different stimuli. It's very cool having the little aliens(grunts) run away from you after killing one of the bigger aliens(elite.) I didn't find any problems with the level design. Certainly, I would have liked more but that is the problem with truly great games-they ends eventually.

DBJAY

08-09-2002, 04:37 PM

Imo, the use of the Warthog and the various air craft in some of the levels elevated the design over the typical fps. Plus, the game is huge and takes some time to think your way through on the higher difficulty settings.

Havoc2049

08-11-2002, 01:02 PM

Originally posted by Kid0_oIcarus
I thought the level design was one of the game's weak points?

Obviously many raved and went wild about the game.. but the one thing people always said was that the level design, particularly the later levels, were weak?

The main complaint was that the level design was somewhat repetitive, especially in "The Library", which is near the end.
I think it was mainly criticisms from people who didn't like the Xbox. Halo has some of the most varied terrain of any FPS. You fight in a spacecraft, forests, beaches, rivers, air, jungles, snow and buildings. The terrain is varied, because of the nature of the Halo structure. Just like DBJay said, Halo is the total package.

Havoc2049

08-11-2002, 07:45 PM

Originally posted by Kid0_oIcarus
Well.. at least they're coming...

LOL, lol....this coming from a Nintendo fan. At least they won't pull a Nintendo GC and show the same "killer app" games(Mario Sunshine, Starfox, Metroid, Zelda) at two E3's in a row, before they are released. Who knows, maybe Starfox and Zelda will make it to three.:D